


The Pool

by AlexLKerr



Series: A Change of Plans [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Brotherly Affection, Brothers, Disability, Drama, Epilepsy, Family, Family Drama, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hugs, Hurt Sam Winchester, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Dean Winchester, Sibling Love, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-17
Updated: 2013-03-17
Packaged: 2017-12-05 14:04:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/724115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexLKerr/pseuds/AlexLKerr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John Winchester opts for a better hotel - with a pool - for his kids after the diagnosis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pool

"No no, it's  _fine!"_ Dean said as Jenny splashed to the edge of the pool. "Damn it," he whispered as she got out and padded across the deck.

"Dah-" Sam murmured distantly, rolling his eyes and vaguely reaching up to Dean, accidentally slapping him, hard, against his bare stomach. Dean breathed an, 'ah,' in annoyance, but stayed still, his world focused on Sam.

"Hey Sammy you're okay… You're okay, Sammy," Dean soothed, bringing Sam closer to his side and massaging the back of his little brother's neck and head, keeping it upright and stable. Sam was starting to slowly contort his body in Dean's arms.

"Okay, relax, I got you," Dean comforted, the chlorinated water dripping from his hair and face onto Sam's floating body.

Suddenly, Sam's pitched scream pierced and echoed through the acoustic pool space, his vocal cords seizing up for a second. Surprised, Dean clamped down on his brother's body accidentally, but loosened his grip as the grand mal began. The lifeguard's whistle went off at three blows. Dean knew they were signaling about Sam, but continued to hold his little brother up in the five-foot-deep pool level he had them in.

…

Sam had been in shallower waters before the seizure when he'd started softly calling Dean's name with a far-off tone of dread. He'd been playing with a girl named Jenny, and she didn't understand him until Sam spelled his request out for her.

"Dean. Jenny. Can you get - Dean - please - Jenny?" Sam struggled to whisper as he sensed something wrong, something off-kilter with their surroundings. Jenny had laughed, not understanding.

"Okay!  _DEAN_!" She yelled teasingly, her shrill voice piercing the pool's acoustics and echoed around. From the other side of the pool, Dean had been chatting and flirting with one of the lifeguards that was on break. He looked up and waved.

"Dean! Sam wants you!" She screeched, her voice echoing again around the hotel pool.

"Why?" Dean called back jokingly. Jenny giggled and looked over to where Sam was, but he'd moved away. She looked around until she spotted him and pointed in his direction. Sam had swum over to the side of the pool, holding onto the edge desperately.

"Dean…" Jenny called, uncertain, now. She saw Sam try to lift himself out of the pool and fail, slumping back with a splash into the water. Jenny didn't understand; she'd seen Sam hop the edge of the pool several times, now, with zero difficulty. Dean saw it, too.

" _Whoa!_ " Dean exclaimed at the sight, jumping up from his seated position near the lifeguard and jogging over to the edge of the pool where Sam was. Sam was making a second attempt to get out just as Dean came up to him.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa, no, Sam," Dean murmured softly as he ran up to his brother, "Sammy, no, stay in the pool, c'mon-" he said when he bent down to grasp Sam under the shoulders and lift him up from the cement deck floor. Sam's half-masted eyes lazily drifted to Dean. He set his hands on Dean's arms and tried to squeeze.

"Okay, c'mon, we'll just do it in here, okay?" Dean said calmly as he inched forward, lowering Sam back into the water. Without losing his grip on his brother, Dean sat down on the edge, then slipped into the pool.

Once both of them were in, Dean pulled his weightless brother up to him, holding him up around his back. Sam wasn't making much deliberate movement anymore, so Dean bent his knees and boosted Sam's thighs up so his legs would cross around Dean's waist. On automatic, Sam tried to lock his ankles around Dean and mildly succeeded.

"The- people…" Sam whispered in distant embarrassment as Dean put an arm along Sam's spine. Sam's head situated itself in the crook of Dean's neck, and Dean kept it there for the time being.

"That's okay, Sammy, nobody minds," Dean reassured as Sam tried to grip Dean, but failed. He turned his face further into Dean's neck with shame.

"-Sam?" Jenny asked, hesitantly, scared. Dean swiveled around in the water slowly, turning his eyes on Jenny. Holding Sam like most parents hold their toddlers, Dean regarded her.

"You're Jenny, right?" Dean started walking them out a little deeper in the pool – the five foot level. Jenny followed them, eyeing Sam with worry.

"Yeah, what's wrong with him?" She asked bluntly.

"He's got Epilepsy," Dean replied kindly as he stopped in the pool.

Dean focused on Sam, turned his head down and whispered into Sam's ear.

"'kay Sammy, let go," he said softly, bending down and dipping Sam's back into the water. Sam stayed in the water, his limbs and body starting to twitch and move haphazardly, his eyes wide, his mouth opening and closing. Dean moved quickly, disentangling himself from Sam's legs while assuming the right position, the position he'd been taught, to be ready for full convulsions. At the sight of Sam's unconscious facial ticks and movements, though, Jenny stared in horror.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed in fear at the sight of Sam as Dean, intensely focused, moved his hand down to the base of Sam's spine. He looked up, alarmed, at Jenny.

"No no, it's  _fine!"_ Dean said as Jenny splashed to the edge of the pool. "Damn it," he whispered as Jenny got out and padded across the deck.

…

Busy with making sure Sam's head was above surface, Dean could only hear the lifeguard's splash into the pool behind him.

"Come on, Sammy, c'mon," Dean whispered as he felt Sam's muscles contract and expand spastically underneath him in the water. He was slippery and it was more difficult than Dean anticipated to hold him well. One arm around Sam's waist/spine, the other under the base of his neck, Dean had him floating horizontal to the pool floor.

The lifeguard, a friendly-looking teenager, rushed over. Dean didn't look up.

"I'm his brother. He's got epilepsy-"

"Okay so this is Sam, you're Dean?" the guy replied calmly, stepping his way around Dean to help keep Sam's left side up above the surface.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Dean said, not really paying attention, scared that Sam's seizure wouldn't end on time.

"We got briefed about it; hotel policy to know about medical conditions," the kid responded, relaxed.

A couple of lifeguards jogged their way to the edge of the pool closest to Dean.

"Nah it's Sam," the lifeguard called out meaningfully to his coworkers. The lifeguards on the side of the pool gave thumbs-up and set the board down, prepared to wait the seizure out before the coast was clear. The lifeguard turned back to Dean.

"How long, now?"

"Minute thirty," Dean replied, counting the seconds.

Sam was still convulsing wildly, his legs and arms moving slower than they usually did, given the water resistance. His mouth contorted, neck stretched, back arched, his legs and feet extended back and forth, fluctuating and straining every muscle. It looked painful and exhausting. Most of all, it looked scary; Dean was only just getting used to seeing Sam like this, and all he wanted to do was hold him down and make him  _stop seizing_. But he couldn't; he'd likely hurt both Sam and himself in the process. He just had to let his little brother ride it out.

Slowly, the seizure started to abate; Sam's jerks and jolts becoming less emphasized, and eventually lasting out to deep, heavy breathes.

"Does he normally wake up after?" The lifeguard asked, beckoning the other lifeguards to jump in with the board.

"Yeah, he does. Hold on, don't do that yet," Dean ordered, still holding Sam securely in the water. Sam's body floated easily with Dean's support, now, and Dean had no trouble keeping him steady while he waited for Sam to find his way back to consciousness. Dean kept his eyes on his little brother, silently pleading for him to wake up. He heard the lifeguards around him in the water and looked up for a second.

"Listen, he's epileptic. He doesn't need that," Dean nodded at the board.

"You sure?"

"Yeah the seizure was under three minutes. He didn't hurt himself," Dean said calmly, looking back to his brother and moving his hand to cup the boy's head.

"Okay sounds good," the lifeguard responded. Dean heard the guards slop out of the pool with the board. The one that first approached them, though, remained next to Dean.

"I don't know much about epilepsy, but I've heard that pools can sometimes be the safest places for people to have seizures…"

"Yup," Dean murmured under his breath as he kept Sam up, waiting for him to come around. "Sammy, c'mon man, wake up," Dean coaxed, pulling him a little closer in the water. He started to walk towards the shallower end of the pool, towing the kid's weightless body with him.

Sam gulped a couple of times and Dean stopped moving. Slowly, Sam brought a hand up to weakly grasp at Dean's arm.

"Sammy-" Dean called softly, bending down, and Sam's dazed eyes fluttered open.

"Hey, there you are," Dean said quietly, brushing back Sam's wet bangs from off his face.

"Hey," he breathed, blinking a few times. His eyes rolled a little bit on the last blink, disoriented. Dean squeezed Sam a little bit, needing to feel Sam's weak, yet still deliberately-moving, muscles react.

"Hey hey Sam come on wake up buddy, just for a little bit," Dean gently persuaded as he maneuvered Sam to be vertical with the floor of the pool.

"Wha… Okay," Sam barely responded, but managed to stand in the pool. Dean angled himself behind him and held him upright; one hand on his chest, one against his stomach, and started to walk him towards the steps.

"Okay you got him?" The lifeguard asked, walking with Dean as he took Sam to the steps. Dean glanced at the lifeguard and nodded.

"Yup. We'll just head upstairs," Dean replied casually.

"Need a wheelchair?"

"Nah, thanks though," Dean replied, smiling.

"Yeah, no problem," the lifeguard responded kindly.

"Dee…" Sam whispered, looking around, uncertain, as he clutched the arms wrapped around his body.

"Yep, buddy, it's me," Dean replied against Sam as they, 'walked.' In truth, as they made their way in the pool, the bottoms of Sam's feet were treading on the tops of Deans', but it still kept Sam's legs moving, which, Dean figured, was probably helping to keep him awake.

"Wha's going on?" Sam's head lolled back against Dean's chest for a second.

"You had a seizure. We're gonna get out of the pool, okay?"

"How… Are we… A pool?" Sam asked, confused. They reached the pool's stairs.

"Yeah c'mon we're going up the steps right now: one-two-three-" Dean said quickly, and hoisted Sam up. Sam scrambled weakly for purchase.

"Dee-" Sam gasped in surprise, but Dean stepped up easily, holding Sam tight the whole time.

"I gotchya," Dean replied lightly.

When they got to the landing, Sam was shivering and pressing himself closer and closer against Dean. Dean was holding Sam up from behind, only his forearms supporting Sams', now. The lifeguard that Dean had been flirting with earlier, Charlotte, appeared with a towel.

"Here you go," she offered.

"Thanks, Char," Dean said gratefully, and took the towel to use on Sam.

"Do you guys have your stuff?" One of the lifeguards asked. Dean looked up at the guy momentarily as he toweled Sam down.

"Uh, yeah it's over there – the Batman towel…" Dean replied distractedly, and the lifeguard turned, spotted their stuff, and jogged over to pick it up for them.

"Dee – Dean…" Sam breathed, looking around hazily as his brother finished getting him dry. Dean crouched down so Sam didn't have to strain his neck to look up at him.

"Yeah, Sammy, what's up?"

Just at that moment, the lifeguard came back with their things.

"Thanks, man," Dean said evenly, reaching out and gesturing for the dry Batman towel. The lifeguard handed it to him and Dean wrapped it around Sam. Sam numbly gripped the towel with shaky hands. Dean turned to find his t-shirt and was throwing it on quickly when Sam spoke up.

"Dee – Everybody's-looking a'-us," Sam slurred his words, tired and still suffering from the aftermath of the seizure. He wasn't blind, though. While Dean had been taking care of Sam and talking to the lifeguards, every other kid and family had been on the edge of their seats, watching dumbly as the drama of Sam's condition had played itself out before their eyes.

Dean finished putting his shirt on and turned around at Sam's observation. Sam was right, which pissed him off. He spotted Jenny huddled in a towel, sitting next to her mother, staring straight at them. Dean looked over and saw that that was the direction in which Sam was looking, too.

"Don't worry, Sam, come on," Dean said innocently, keeping his frustration to himself, as he turned Sam around and stood up. He kept his hands on Sam's hunched shoulders and Sam did as he was told, extremely open to suggestion in his state.

Dean maneuvered his feet into his flip-flops, but thought better than to ask Sam for the dexterity required to do the same with his. Holding on to Sam's shoes, they padded out of the pool and into the lobby towards the elevator.

John had treated them all to a nice… A  _really_  nice hotel after the diagnosis; he'd promised he'd be back that night to take them to dinner at a steakhouse. Dean actually believed him, too, especially if he called to let him know that Sam had had a seizure today. He wasn't going to raise Sam's hopes, though, so he kept that thought to himself.

Dean saw Sam shiver again as they waited for the elevator and Dean rubbed Sam's arms up and down absent-mindedly. Sam backed into his brother for warmth again and Dean just put his arms around Sam.

"Am I really scary looking when I have a seizure?" Sam asked quietly.

"Nope," Dean lied simply, automatically, without blinking. He was actually kind of happy that Sam had just strung a full sentence together, no matter how depressing the question really was.

"Really?"

"Yep."

Sam didn't say anything back. Dean gave Sam a small hug and Sam leaned into it. Huddled together, they waited for the elevator. Sam was safe, warming up, and loved.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. The thing had glass walls. They stepped into the capsule and Dean hit the button for the eighth floor. Sam wandered over to watch the lobby get smaller as they traveled up. Dean came up next to Sam.

"You tired?"

"Yeah," Sam sighed.

"Okay," Dean nodded, "You want to shower off the chlorine first?"

"Nuh," Sam breathed.

"Okay," Dean shrugged, not really caring. "What about room service? You hungry?" He asked as the thought occurred to him.

"Nah jus' tired," Sam murmured.

"Sounds good," Dean bobbed his head, not minding. The elevator reached their floor and they walked down the hallway.

Dean had their key card and swiped it a few times before the locking mechanism blinked green. He opened the door for Sam to go through first. Sam sauntered inside, walking to his bed and, just as he was about to lie down, Dean's hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

"Whoa, sorry-" Dean said as Sam stumbled back. Dean had to steady him, wincing at the accidental force of his pull.

"What the hell-?" Sam whined irritably.

"Sorry – I just want you to wear dry clothes in bed," Dean replied with a measured tone, "C'mon that's not weird to ask."

Sam nodded tiredly, seeing reason. Dean pulled out sweats, underwear, and a t-shirt for Sam and handed them to him.

"You need help?" Dean asked, worried at Sam's bewildered facial expression when he looked at the clothes. He snapped out of it and scrunched his face up.

"Dean!" Sam exclaimed, appalled. Dean put his arms up with a crooked smile.

"I changed your diapers, dude."

"Whatever," Sam huffed and walked to the bathroom. He shut the door and got to work. Sam spent a long time trying to peel his wet swimming trunks off. For some reason, the logistics weren't making sense: he'd tug at one point of the fabric, then another, and another… And despite his efforts, he wouldn't have come any closer to getting them down.

Finally, though, he managed it. He kicked the rolled up fabric into the corner of the bathroom. Breathing hard from the exertion, he had to sit on the toilet seat to relax, and slowly worked on getting his underwear on while he sat. The bathroom had a floor heater that Dean had turned on before Sam had gone in. As much as Sam wanted to put all his clothes on, he felt the warmth of the floor on his feet and decided to rest for two seconds, enjoying the heat on the bottoms of his feet. Slowly falling asleep, Sam slinked from his seated position on the toilet onto the floor. He reached over and pulled the cotton sweatpants to use as a pillow and promptly began his nap.

A few minutes later, Dean knocked on the bathroom door.

"Sammy you good?" He called in one breath.

Sam didn't respond and Dean twisted the knob.

"Sam?" He called out again as he opened the bathroom. Dean's eyes widened as he spotted Sam face down on the floor. Alarmed, he rushed to Sam at the same time his kid brother let out an unmistakable snore. Dean stopped short, listened to Sam's breath as he slept, and couldn't help but start laughing.

He bent down over Sam, grinning.

"Hey- Sam?" He nudged his brother and pushed him over onto his side.

"Wha-?" Sam murmured.

Dean could tell Sam was too out of it to wake up fully; to be fair, he wasn't sure if he wanted to: the kid was so close to a bed, now, he didn't need to walk it. He rolled Sam all the way over onto his back and felt the heated floor as he did so. Things clicked into place and Dean chuckled.

"Decided you'd fall asleep on the heated floor, huh?" Dean asked the rhetorical question, smiling, as he flipped Sam's sweatpants out and got his little brother's feet inside.

"Yeah. S'warm," Sam whispered as he let Dean pull his pants up.

"Lift," Dean whispered, just like when they had been little, and Sam vaguely lifted up so Dean could pull the sweats up to his waist. Dean noticed the t-shirt on the floor and called it a lost cause: he really wasn't interested in the effort it'd take to get a t-shirt on an exhausted ten-year old.

"Okay, c'mon, sleeping beauty," Dean said affectionately as he moved his arms around Sam, picking him up carefully. Sam went with it, holding onto Dean's shoulders and bending his knees. Dean got him up easily and silently made his way out of the bathroom and into the room.

Sam had fallen asleep again in Dean's arms by the time he set him down in bed. It didn't bother him; Dean opted to take a shower and call their dad. With the steakhouse dinner planned, Dean was pretty happy. He proceeded to call the life guard office at the hotel to thank them and asked Charlotte if he could see her again. She had said yes.

He finally moved onto the bed he shared with Sam to channel surf and peruse the room service lunch menu. It was about one in the afternoon. Sam and Dean had been in the pool for a couple of hours and Dean was now starving. He sat down facing the bedside table with the services binder on it – pulling it off, he flipped through the pages as Sam slept on right behind him.

Dean had just dialed the extension for room service, ready with his order, when Sam woke up. Dean's eyes lit upon his groggy brother.

"Oh, sorry let me call you back," Dean said. Sam looked at Dean blearily, confused.

"What're you doing?" He asked grouchily.

"Ordering room service. You want anything?" Dean asked cheerfully, his tone holding innocent excitement for the activity. He showed Sam the menu in the binder and Sam squinted, looking at it, then started to grin.

"Yeah," Sam whispered sleepily as he studied its contents. "Can I get the chicken fingers?"

"What sauce?"

"Um..." Sam considered, "Honey mustard!"

"Yup! Anything else?"

"Ohhh," Sam drawled with longing, "the waffle cheese friesss-"

Sam's voice was scratchy from sleep, but still obviously excited. He looked up at Dean, timid but hopeful.

"Oh, yes,  _definitely,"_ Dean chuckled, glancing at where Sam was looking at the menu. "'Kay, good?"

Sam nodded, giving his own crooked smile as he had not fully woken up yet. He flopped back, pressing his face against the hotel's luxurious feather down pillow and just watched Dean's back as he dialed the extension, ordered their plates, and hung up the phone.

Dean rubbed his hands together in anticipation, turning over to look at Sam, and grinned. Sam returned the expression dreamily and Dean backed up against the headboard of the bed. He put his legs under the covers and got comfortable. Sam gravitated over to him, liking to be close to Dean, who was always really warm.

"So how're you feeling?" Dean asked, sliding a hand over to rest casually on Sam's back, the other grabbing the remote off the bedside table to flick the TV on.

Sam shrugged.

"I'm okay," he said in a small, muffled voice. Dean started rubbing his back as he flicked through channels.

"Okay," Dean replied simply. Sam smiled a little and cuddled in closer to Dean.

Dean quirked a smile, too, satisfied with the moment, and kept his arm around Sam as he landed on channel eighteen and read the program schedule. As it scrolled, Dean read through the listings for something they would want to watch together when their food arrived.

**Author's Note:**

> After doing some research, normally an ambulance is always called when a seizure occurs in water - primarily to make sure that water hadn't been ingested = partial drowning. This scene, if following through on current standards, would've had the lifeguards automatically call the paramedics, but as it was 1993 and the young lifeguards were taking cues from Dean, I figure this scenario still could have happened.
> 
> Please comment/review if you can spare the time! Thank you! ~ Alex


End file.
